Ten Ways to Quickly and Easily Improve Summer Videos and Wow Friends and Family

Taipei, Taiwan — More than 3.5 billion consumers worldwide will take videos to capture their best moments this summer – whether it’s footage of an elegant wedding, a peaceful day at the beach or an annual family barbecue. While an overwhelming majority of these consumers want to take higher quality, more captivating videos that truly represent their most memorable summer experiences, many feel that they lack the talent or experience to do so. That is where CyberLink comes in with 10 of the easiest and most effective ways to turn rough and choppy video clips into bona fide cinema-quality experiences.

CyberLink, a leading provider of media creation software like PowerDirector, ColorDirector and AudioDirector, offers video editing and finishing techniques that enable amateurs to create professional-quality videos, making it fun along the way.

CyberLink’s Top 10 Video Editing Tips and Tricks for this Summer:

• Tip One: Tell A Story
  
  Baby’s first day at the beach is worth more than a one-minute video clip of him or her spitting out sand. Turn this into a real story that everyone will love with an intro (getting Baby ready for the beach), a core (Baby enjoying the sand and surf) and a conclusion (Baby sleeping safely in Mom’s arms on the ride home). It only takes a few minutes to construct a complete story – simply plan ahead, brainstorm, get inspiration and write out your thoughts as they come together during the editing process.
• Tip Two: Add a Soundtrack
  
  Every year has its “songs of the summer” that bring you back to those special moments – why not leverage those in your videos? Music and sound effects transform videos and also cover any imperfections in the video. Easy-to-use tools can also help you mask unwanted sounds like barking dogs, traffic and slamming doors with light music. It’s easy to determine the right microphone setup for recording your own sound effects or you can simply download and share sound effects at www.DirectorZone.com. You can also obtain free music downloads for your videos at MusOpen.org.
  
  Product Tip: Try CyberLink’s AudioDirector Ultra, which works seamlessly with PowerDirector 11, to provide professional sound design and restoration.


• Tip Three: Set the Pace
  
  The key to successful video editing is creating a tempo that matches the tone and mood of your video project – rather than randomly cutting footage. Use a beat marker to help you determine if your edits are timed appropriately throughout the footage, whether it is fast or slow, so your final video is enjoyable for others to watch.
  
  Product Tip: CyberLink’s PowerDirector 11 has a music beat detection tool to scan your music tracks and help you locate key video editing and cutting points.
• Tip Four: Leverage Precision Editing Tools
  
  If you are filming a wedding or a major event for loved ones, you want your video to be as perfect as it can be – so take the time to make precise edits using keyframe controls and trim tools. Keyframe control is a must-have tool to create visual effects which times and synchronizes along the timeline, such as a fade from full color to black & white, or movement of an object along a path. The trim tool allows you to select the exact sections of your clip on a frame-by-frame basis for precise accuracy throughout the entire editing process.
  
  Product Tip: Use PowerDirector’s 400+ Tools and Effects which include precise keyframe controls and trim tools.


• Tip Five: Don’t Be Afraid to Cut
  
  If you’re filming a video of a big family reunion cookout as a gift for your grandma, you might want to omit scenes of tipsy relatives and bratty teens that either detract from the video or don’t fit in with the overall tone or story. Even if it happens to be your favorite scene, don’t hesitate to cut it if it doesn’t fit in. One option: you can keep those scenes in a “Director’s Cut Bonus” in your DVD, either as outtakes or worked into the extended version. That way, you can give grandma a lovely video keepsake but save extra footage that will entertain younger cousins.
  
  Product Tip: PowerDirector’s new ripple editing function lets you insert or remove clips while keeping others on the timeline aligned.


• Tip Six: Keep It Simple
  
  You don’t want to over-edit your videos with star wipes or motion paths or else the video of your midsummer’s night dream on the lake will turn into an overwrought nightmare. Instead, stick to simple cuts or dissolves that have a purpose that complements your overall production. Your final video will be more professional-looking and far more enjoyable for others to watch.
  
  Product Tip: PowerDirector has plenty of effect and transition options but only choose those that complement your video.


• Tip Seven: Get Social
  
  Billions of videos are watched daily on social sites like YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook – why not see if yours is one of the most downloadable? Through social sharing, you will get instantaneous feedback on your video which may inspire you take on new projects.
  
  Product Tip: Use the social sharing functions within PowerDirector to produce and upload videos to social websites quickly and easily.


• Tip Eight: Get Creative with Blue-ray and DVD Menus
  
  Your video of the annual Labor Day bonfire beach party is spectacular and now you’re burning a disk to share with others so they can watch it too. Make your fabulous DVD really stand out by adding a creative DVD menu, which will be the first thing people see when they fire up the DVD. Go to www.DirectorZone.com to find a huge library of free DVD menu downloads or customize your own with background graphics and fonts.


• Tip Nine: Save Your Progress
  
  While editing videos, get in the habit of saving them every five minutes or so by keeping your hand on the Ctrl+S keys to save the latest status of your working projects. Another good idea is to save alternate versions from time to time as you progress through your video project – just in case you change your mind and want to revert to a previous save point. PowerDirector automatically backs up your progress for auto-restore in case of a system crash.


• Tip Ten: Get Organized
  
  If you have 30 hours of raw footage of your once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Grand Canyon, you don’t want to spend hours of precious time searching for that one special scene of your husband white-water rafting on the Colorado River. So, take time at the beginning of your project to create a folder structure that is easy for you to understand, keep your files named for easy recognition and maintain a notebook to record time points in your footage where specific scenes are located that you would like to use later.
  
  Product Tip: Use PowerDirector’s newly revamped interface which allows you to organize and preview your content more efficiently than ever before.